Journalists as part of the fundamentals of their profession since time immemorial are to serve as the watchdog in society.
This permits them to force people in power who think they are above the law and cannot be questioned to be up and doing with their responsibilities defined by the constitution.
They have to make sure politicians are playing by their rules and make citizens understand the happenings in the society to which they are ignorant of.
Hence they have to go in-depth to unravel the facts behind the mysteries and the wrong-doings in society. This will bring about a democratic dispensation in the society which will increase the level of transparency and accountability in the country.
Today, the narrative has changed as journalists who are supposed to be watchdogs are rather been watched by people of power.
The entire journalism work from the apex to the base is all about sacrifice and commitment to cause a positive change in society, but most journalists seem to have forgotten this.
They are more concerned and their minds are geared towards amassing wealth for themselves through the journalism profession. Journalists today take what we call “soli”.
This is money or other gifts journalists accept from people as sitting allowance after covering their event.
This is quite unethical as it can make journalists compromise in their news reporting course. Hence, prevents journalists from reporting honest reports and giving dedicated services to the public because they have taken monies from these people, they can only speak for and not against these people in their reportage.
This is no different from taking bribes from a person as this money makes the journalist cover up for someone who perpetrated evil, suppressing the information.
This violates the human rights of the citizen to know. Today taking “soli” has become a new normal as journalists refuse to make a story see the light of the day if they are not given soli in an event.
No doubt times are hard and like most professions, journalists are also financially down but nonetheless, this does not guarantee journalists to take “soli” as it is unprofessional and takes away the core value of every journalist which is honesty.
Journalists as defined by their core ethics are supposed to be non-partisan and keep their political parties confidential.
Most journalists in Ghana today are affiliated with most political parties and sadly it is no secret as the public is aware of this. These politicians channel the hard-earned monies of the taxpayer which are supposed to be designated for developmental projects in the country for the benefit of all to these journalists to give them good publicity in the eyes of the citizenry.
They have joined the bandwagon of corrupt politicians to perpetrate evils in society at the expense of the Ghanaians.
This has killed the objectivity value of most journalists as they tend to be biased with their reportage when airing news about these politicians who grease their palms, as journalists are supposed to be objective at all costs regardless of their emotions. This will help citizens critically analyse the information being conveyed across.
Most prominent journalists in Ghana today are only concerned with defending and protecting politicians whether they are right or not.
They do not want to speak about the ills going on in society because they have been bought and gagged by these power-drunk politicians, and the notion “don’t bite the hand that feeds you will start to manifest”.
Journalists who are supposed to be up and doing to puzzle out important issues to affect positively on society are now sensation-oriented people in Ghana because they are more interested in the money rather than the love for the profession.
Most media houses of today only promote content which will give them a sensation in the eyes of the public, thereby neglecting their core responsibility.
The entire media is now a joke of late as today is who has the highest likes and comments on Facebook and other social media platforms, who has the most beautiful and elegant presenter and other unnecessary premises.
Instead of setting up a panel and experts to address relevant issues in society and discuss the way forward, they would rather take a huge sum of money from fake pastors and native men to promote their work on live television or radio and make innocent and vulnerable citizens fall for their lies and deceits.
The Ghanaian media is in deep shambles as they will soon fall and become irrelevant in the eyes of the citizenry if they do not change their ways. The level of professionalism in the media makes a country stand tall in democracy. This will result in transparency, accountability and a corruption-free society.
The happenings in the media landscape of late make us ask the obvious whether the watchdogs are really watching over us.
